Outtake from Farenheit 9/11.No idea why, but this just makes me smile:The witnesses recently called by the special prosecutor, former government officials said, include the agency’s top officer in London and Porter J. Goss, who was C.I.A. director when the tapes were destroyed in November 2005. Destruction of evidence is not something you should just forgive and forget.

The National Security Archive has posted a bunch of FBI interview reports from Saddam's interrogation. Here's my first take on the reports.

Today, the less-heavily-redacted version of the CIA IG report on torture and interrogation techniques during the Bush Administration is due for release.  Unless, of course, there is yet another delay.

big story from ProPublica/WashPost

I have seen a lot of exasperated judges in my day, especially when dealing with unprepared or outright smarmy lawyering from appearing counsel. It's usually a comment from the bench, reining in some inappropriate overstep or a warning to back away from misconduct or failure, saving the written opinion text for a more staid, measured rebuke.

James Mitchell and John Bruce Jessen, the ex-military psychologists identified as primary architects of the CIA's "enhanced interrogations techniques" torture program, apparently did not spend all their time on the battlefield. As the Bush administration-approved coercive interrogation techniques spread from Guantanamo and Afghanistan to the new war in Iraq, Mitchell and Jessen were cashing in on their new-found influence.

Leon Panetta's latest filing in the ACLU FOIA lawsuit had this curious revelation: Officials of the National Security Council (NSC) determined it... essential to limit access to the information in the program. NSC officials established a special access program governing access to information relating to the CIA terrorist detention and interrogation program....

It's only going to get hotter this summer.

Obama wants to stop U.S. policies and rhetoric that "empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, those who promote conflict rather than the cooperation." For obvious reasons, Karl Rove seems to have taken that personally.

Dick Cheney has been the primary moving force behind the United States' use of torture. Torture is the primary recruiting tool for new terrorists. The next attack here will be Cheney's fault.